Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia p–ISSN: 2541-0849 e-ISSN: 2548-1398

Vol. 9, No. 5, Mei 2024

THE USE OF INSTAGRAM TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ EFL WRITING

Asy Syiffa Fatata Rahima Noordi^1*, Novita Triana², Raisa Fadilla³

Universitas Lambung Mangkurat, Banjarmasin, Indonesia^1,2,3

Email: [email protected]^*

Abstract

Good communication makes it easier for us to connect with the community and other individuals with various backgrounds. Language is also a catalyst for us to understand ourselves and others, and is the key that opens the window of our world’s view. Every aspect on human life is very dependent on the proficiency of language skills. The goal of this paper was to see how the use of Instagram improved the students’ EFL writing ability. The method used to conduct this paper was Systematic Literature Review. There are 10 articles from various journals that are analyzed and synthetized to extract the data from. Based on the authors finding, the use of Instagram brought forth positive improvement on the students’ writing ability, as well as their motivation in language acquisition study.

Key words: Instagram, Systematic Literature Review, EFL students, writing, improvement

Introduction

Naturally, language is what unifies a nation and even the whole world. Good communication makes it easier for us to connect with the community and other individuals with various backgrounds. Language is also a catalyst for us to understand ourselves and others, and is the key that opens the window of our world’s view. Every aspect on human life is very dependent on the proficiency of language skills. Especially in this era of globalization, where technological advances make it easier for us to establish relationships with many people.

One or the world’s major languages that is often used in various aspects of life is English. In the realm of education, English is almost as important to learn as the mother tongue. Many agencies even require fluency in English as a condition for gaining certain access to the programs offered. That’s why learning English is given priority in education nowadays.

English has 4 main aspects that made up for it. These aspects are the ability to read, listen, speak and write. In the research carried out by the current author, the focus is the writing aspect. Because writing is a skill that combines all other language skills. Writing also focused on vocabulary and grammar, etc.

By definition, writing is the ability to process and convey information in a new language style (Rivers, 2018). Other experts say that writing is an action, a process of finding and forming new ideas and then putting them onto paper or screen. Writing is an expressive and engaging activity. Writing makes someone able to see and even shape reality itself. There is so much urgency for students to learn literacy.

Unfortunately, in the author’s own experience of pursuing and providing education, there is a lack of interest and skills in writing for some people in various range of ages. Based on the author’s observations, the case to this is related to the lack of attention given to books and traditional writing tools such as pens and pencils, and also the lack of interest in pursuing literature. However, this does not mean that the sophisticated technological advances we have today should be a reason for people’s reduced ability to write. In fact, digital advances in the current era can be used to facilitate teaching and learning activities.

Digital advancement is the thing that is developing most rapidly along with the advancement of humanity ability to comprehend science. Even in the realm of education, the integrity of Communication and Information Technology (ICT) is undeniable. Educators often use social sites to support teaching and learning. One of the things that causes this is students who now seem to be very dependent on smart gadgets and other internet-based electronic objects. The progress of the internet has greatly influenced the way students learn and communicate (Cahyono & Mutiaraningrum, 2016). Because of this progress, teaching staff are advised to include the use of devices in teaching and learning activities.

In order to attract students’ interest, the author found that the use of social media could be an effective medium for this result. Based on a data analysis conducted by Kepios in 2023, social media users will reach 4.95 billion people, which means 61.4% of people in the world use social media. There are so many social media platforms available, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, etc. However, what is focused on in this article is Instagram. The author’s experience of becoming more enthusiastic about writing via the Instagram platform is one of the factors that influenced this research.

Due to its unique and distinguishable visual, Instagram is deemed as an enjoyable tool to use while creating a content. Instagram do not just connect educators and provide neutral spaces in which they can share ideas; through their algorithms, features, and designs, they also affect the nature of the connections that are made and the kinds of spaces that are cultivated (Friesen & Lowe, 2012).

In regards of that point, it is plausible to assume that Instagram is the desirable platform for educators to utilize in their classroom, as it is convenient for the students as well to use their familiar social platform in education field. Another reason may also be that Instagram can help in integrating virtual services to support and enhance educational communication and engagement (Cornali & Cavaletto, 2021).

The use of Instagram with the aesthetics of the platform, along with the exposure, may be playing a part in one’s inclination to develop creativity and writing skill itself. Human has an inclination to express their beings and their thoughts. Hence why is learning how to write is learning how to express oneself. The author hopes that by knowing the effectiveness of Instagram in the world of education, especially in the focus of writing, it can inspire increasingly intense utilization for teaching staff and students. After all, it is in accordance with (Emmitt et al., 2006) claim, that the learning output will be maximized if the learning input is interesting.

Research Method

The methodology used in this research is Systematic Literature Review (SLR). Systematic literature review is a research method for identifying, evaluating and interpreting all relevant research results related to certain research questions, certain topics, or phenomena of concern. Systematic Literature Review has several stages, namely: planning, conducting, reporting.

At the planning stage, Research Questions must be formulated. The research questions that have been determined will become a reference for how data for research will be searched for, processed and written in this paper. There are 5 elements that must be considered in determining the Research Question. These 5 elements are known as PICOC (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Context).

The conducting stage is the start of the actual research. Conducting can be started by filtering data using keywords which are also based on PICOC. Without clear keywords, the data obtained will be too much and difficult to process. Inclusion and exclusion criteria must also be determined at this stage. The final step is to extract data on the literacy that has been collected, then carry out data synthesis. The purpose of data synthesis is to analyze and evaluate the results of research and literature and to select the most appropriate method for integrating explanations and interpretations of the various findings.

The final stage is reporting. Reporting is the stage where all findings are written down in written form, with the aim of being published, either in physical or digital book form. The writing structure of an SLR usually consists of 3 large parts, namely: Introduction, Main Body and Conclusion.

Results and Discussion

Based on data collected by the author, Instagram has high effectiveness in helping students hone their writing skills. This claim is based on 10 journal article sources that have met the inclusion criteria.

Table 1. Article Selection

No	Title	Author(s)	Juornal/Vol/PP	Findings
1	Instagram As Media To Enhance Students’ Writing Skill Viewed From Students’ Creativity In State Islamic Institute Of Ponorogo	Kaukabilla Alya Parangu, Sulistyowati	Journal of Arabic Language, Literature, and Education Vol. 1, No. 2 (July 2020); P-?	This study finds that: (1) Instagram media is classified as a more effective median than Powerpoint in teaching writing; (2) There is an interaction between teaching media and students’ creativity in teaching writing. In other words, the result of this study implies that Instagram media is remarkably effective in teaching writing to the second semester students of Shariah Economics in Economics Faculty in State Islamic Institute of Ponorogo (Parangu & Sulistyowati, 2020)
2	Instagram For Writing Practice: Students’ Perceived Usefulness And Ease Of Use	Mardiyanah Nasta, Fatimah H. Amin, Hasriani G	The Journal of English Literacy Education, Vol. 9, No. 01, May 2022, pp.13-22	This research sets a goal to specifically investigate the students’ perception toward Instagram’s usefulness and ease for writing practice, and found that items in both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness got a positive score from the students. Students’ excitement of Instagram works is an advantage in using it as a writing practice medium. Instagram is a good learning media (Nasta et al., 2022).
3	The Use Of Instagram To Develop Students’ Writing Ability	Amelia Nurdiansyah, Tryanti R. Abdulrahman	VOL 9 NO 01 (2020): Akademika : Jurnal Teknologi Pendidikan	The result of this research presented that there was a significant difference of Instagram on students’ writing ability at SMAN 3 Bekasi. The significance (Sig.) score of T-test 0.000 is lower than (<) 0.05. Therefore, the research had a significant difference in Instagram on Grade Ten Students’ Writing Ability at SMAN 3 Bekasi. In addition, Instagram helped the students to develop their writing, and also, it can ease the teaching and learning process (Nurdiansyah & Abdulrahman, 2020).
4	Teaching Writing Descriptive Text Using Instagram	Terry Luanah Irmalia, Lailatul Musyarofah, Sulistyaningsih	STKIP PGRI Sidoarjo	Based on the result from the paper, it can be concluded Instagram can be a great media in teaching writing Descriptive text to the tenth grade of MIPA 3 SMA Muhammadiyah 3 Tulangan (Terry Luanah et al., n.d.).
5	The Use Of Instagram To Boost Students’ Writing Skill In Explanation Text	Ian Harum Prasasti, Yamika Baihaqi, Arif Rohman Hakim	Jurnal Locus Penelitian & Pengabdian Vol. 1 No. 1, April 2022	The results showed that the use of Instagram in the teaching and learning process significantly improved students’ writing skills. Students can develop their ideas to produce explanatory texts. Based on quantitative data, the average score of students’ writing skills increased. In the pre-test, the students’ mean score was 50.82. Then, after Cycle 1 (post-test 1), the students’ mean score from post-test 1 was 62.26. Finally, after Cycle 2 (post-test 2), the average score of students on post-test 2 was 76.08 (Prasasti et al., 2022).
6	Exploring Creativity In English Writing By Using Instagram: University Students Perceptions	Kamal Yusuf, Nikmatul Jazilah	Pedagogy Journal of English Language Teaching Volume 8, Number 2, June 2020	The findings indicated that the students demonstrated positive perceptions in using Instagram to interact with their lecture and classmates on Instagram to improve their English writing ability. The result of this research informed the reader that the use of Instagram in teaching writing can also shape them to become more creative and enjoyable in English writing learning (Yusuf & Jazilah, 2020).
7	Exploring Students’ Perception On The Use Of Instagram As A Platform In Creative Writing Course	Tria Mellinia Satya Pratiwi, Noor Eka Chandra, Elvina Arapah	Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning (JETLE) Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2023, Page 98-113	For the findings, variety of students perception were showed in three different spectrums using thematic analysis: 1) majority of the students perceived their experience as positive one due to Instagram benefits as source of inspiration, creativity endeavour and larger engagement for their writing product; 2) some of the students also offered their negative experience in regards to word limitation and insecurity of uploading to public; 3) meanwhile, the more neutral one admitted that Instagram’s benefit was just similar to other platforms (Pratiwi et al., 2023).
8	Using Instagram In Teaching Writing For University Freshmen	Rosyida Asma’ul Husna, Mirjam Anugerahwati, Furaidah	Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan Volume: 5 Nomor: 9 Bulan September Tahun 2020 Page: 1350—1358	The research contains a reflection from a teacher who has used Instagram as a supporting medium for learning writing skills through a process-genre approach. Research data comes from a daily journal which is also used for note-taking a series of activities carried out in the teaching process. Results of this research shows that using Instagram can improve writing skills of the students so that they realize that writing is part of social activities as well as helping them to write an essay or other kind of writing (Husna et al., 2020).
9	Hubungan Penggunaan Instagram Dengan Keterampilan Menulis Iklan Pada Siswa Kelas Viii Mts Ypph Al-Hidayah Ciampea Bogor	Yulia Adiningsih, Siti Latifatu Rohmah	Prosiding Semnasfip October 2019 Edition Page: 115-125	The conclusion that may be taken from this research is that: there is a correlation between Instagram and the skills of students in writing an advertisements. The use of social media Instagram by the students is very effective considering the average results of media use questionnaires Instagram social is at 76.54 and the value of advertisement writing which skill with an average value of 61.18. The data proves that there is a positive relationship between use of social media Instagram with advertising writing skills in students class VIII MTs YPPH Al-Hidayah (Adiningsih & Rohmah, 2019).
10	“Let’s Write A Caption!” : Utilizing Instagram To Enhance ESP Students’ Writing Skills	Arif Nugroho, Any Rahmawati	Journal BASIS Vol. 7 No. 1 April 2020	The result of the data analysis showed that there was a significant difference on the students’ writing scores between the pre-test and the post test. The mean score of the students’ writing in pre-test is 61.1579, while the mean score in the post-test is 76.3947. It indicates that the students perform better writing ability after being taught by using Instagram (Nugroho & Rahmawati, 2020).

The results of the 10 research papers analyzed by the author indicate that the use of Instagram does, in several degree, have managed to improve students’ writing ability. One of the factors that may play a major role in the outcome is the students’ interest and familiarity of Instagram as a social media that they use on daily basis, since Instagram is indeed one of the most used social media.

As written in the first article, the author tried to compare the effectiveness of Instagram with the use of Powerpoint. Since the article used experimental method, the class was divided into 2 groups, experimental and control class. The experimental class used Instagram as a learning media, while the control class was taught using by Powerpoint as the media. The data was concluded by using several conducted test to see the scores in their writing skill.

The data distribution was classified into 8 groups, as follows: 1) the data of the writing test of the students who are taught by using Instagram media (A₁); (2) the data of the writing test of the students who are taught by using Powerpoint media (A₂); (3) the data of the writing test score of the students having high creativity (B₁); (4) the data of the writing test score of the students having low creativity (B₂); (5) the data of the writing test score of the students having high creativity of experimental class (A₁B₁); (6) the data of the writing test score of the students having low creativity of experimental class (A₁B₂); (7) the data of the writing test score of the students having high creativity of control class (A₂B₁); (8) the data of the writing test score of the students having low creativity of control class (A₂B₂).

The mean of the first data group (A₁) was 76.66, while the mean of the second data group (A₂) was 72.66 which mean the average score was fairly good, but there was a notable difference in the average test scores. The mean of the third data group (B₁) was 79.8, and the mean of the fourth data group (B₂) was 70, there was a greater gap in between the scores. Furthermore, for the fifth data group (A₁B₁) the mean of the scores was 84.16, while the mean score for the sixth data group (A₁B₂) was 75.33. For the final comparation, the mean of the seventh data group (A₂B₁) was 69 which happened to be the same as the eighth data group (A₂B₂). From this data, it can be concluded that the usage of Instagram made up for the higher scores, which implied the more effectiveness it was as a learning media.

As stated in article 2 and article 7, the students showed a positive response akin to positive view of benefit and importance. In article 2, the mean scores for the perceived usefulness questionnaires, are as such: 4.16 for ‘writing performance’, 3.42 for ‘write quickly’, 4.19 for ‘increase productivity’, 4.06 for ‘quality of writing’, 3.90 for ‘make writing easier’, and 4.00 for ‘useful’. All of those mean scrores falls under the category of good. In the meanwhile, article 7 result found the students showed positive perception of Instagram’s usefulness by the indicator of response which claimed that Instagram was mainly used in their age groups was compatible for enhanching writing skills through digital writing, an extension of traditional handwriting.

Instagram also offered a more creative insight to the students’ and may reach broader audience so it also worked as a motivation for them to write as best as they could. The students who are not so confident in their skills can also only shared their writing to their closer friends and it can also work as a confidence-building because they got positive feedback from their social scope. This also in line with the finding proposed by (Afrilyasanti et al., 2016) stating that students were allowed to make use of English independently for networking communication for they did not need to feel afraid of making mistake or being scored by their teachers.

The third article, also used experimental method, determined that the experimental class was taught by using Instagram media, while the control groups was taught without using Instagram. The result show that there are difference between the two classes post-test. The score of the experimental class is significantly higher than the control class. This further strengthen the claim that Instagram is an effective tool to teach writing in the classroom.

Students do, indeed, need some liberty in their study in order to actually grasp the nature of education itself and what good it will bring to their lives. There was an idea proposed by (Agustina, 2012) who claimed that student’s participation in an authentic or natural setting of communication was allowed to sharpen their confidence representing a crucial factor for successful language acquisition, and that was what the author also experienced in her study and what seemed to be the case for the other students as well.

With Instagram, various writing classes can benefit from the media. Like in article 4, 5, and 9, there are instances of usage of Instagram in teaching Descriptive Text, Explanation Text, and Comercial, respectively. The articles suggested that the students are very contented by the atmosphere of the classroom, which influenced their interest and engangement, to help their development of writing skills and material absorption.

Article 8 was conducted in order to describe the use of Instagram in teaching writing for university freshmen. The subjects were 14 freshmen from private universities in Malang. This article revealed that Instagram is marveled by the students as a preferable media to learn. The students were more careful and attentive with the subjects and they are able to share their knowledge better with their peers. The students were found elated to share their thoughts as long as there is a picture and a room for caption for them to write. This is also corresponded to what article 10 focused on. Caption section in Instagram along with the picture posting feature had allow the students to be more expressive with themselves.

A successful language acquisition mean that the students are ought to be well-versed in expressing their thoughts and needs, as well as understanding the thoughts and needs of other people. This will create more opportunities for them when they become a part of the society, to build a good connection to other people. Not only that, the language proficiency will also grant them the privilege to pursue scholarship or job applications on some high profile institution.

Conclusion

In regards of the research papers, the utilization of the social media Instagram provide significant improvement in students of EFL writing ability. Students’ positive attitude and excitement in utilizing the social media, namely Instagram , that they are already familiar with, contributed to their appeal to learn and it resulted in an improvement of their writing skill. The use of Instagram can be a basis to build their confidence in honing their ability to express their thoughts through writing the caption in a post. Such confidence is a very important part to a successful language acquisition, according to (Agustina, 2012). Therefore it is heavily suggested that teachers are more open to use Instagram, or any other social media in that matter, in the classroom with a careful regulation. The students are also encouraged to use the media that can help them focus and enjoy learning at their own accord. This would promote to a better learning environment and improve educational system altogether. After all, the ever-changing world should be utilized to our benefit, not to be rejected and cause stagnation in our education.

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Copyright holder:

Asy Syiffa Fatata Rahima Noordi, Novita Triana, Raisa Fadilla (2024)

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Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia

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